Father caught with knives on school run in Eckington

A dad was caught with a dangerous butterfly knife and a Stanley knife in his car by police while he was taking his daughter to school.

Chesterfield magistrates’ court recently heard how James John Allan, 28, of Lightwood Road, Marsh Lane, Eckington, had parked up on Main Road in the village when police spotted the knives in his vehicle.

Prosecuting solicitor Ian Shaw told the September 25 hearing: “He was wrongly parked in a restricted zig-zag area next to a pedestrian crossing outside a school and there was no driver in the vehicle so police decided to wait and speak to the driver on his return. While waiting police saw two knives. Allan was arrested on his return and he said he had been using the knives to fix his radio.”

Police seized a butterfly knife from the front passenger seat and a Stanley knife from the front dashboard and Allan.

He told police he had been working on his radio and had forgotten the knives were there but they had been visible to people walking past. Delivery driver Allan pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing bladed articles in a public place after the incident on September 9.

Defence solicitor John Wilford said: “He had been fitting a car stereo the night before and he was going to remove the knives the next morning but he overslept and was late taking his daughter to school and he parked where he shouldn’t.”

Magistrates fined Allan £220 and ordered him to pay £85 costs, a £20 victim surcharge and a £150 courts charge.